music alliance pact (june 2009 issue)

i can’t believe it’s been a month already. where has all the time gone? great thing for us is that good music around the world never stops, as we can see with this month’s issue of the music alliance pact, a coming together of music bloggers from all over the world to bring you the best of their respective local sounds. for this issue, our local correspondent brian koh chooses concave scream, one of the veterans of the singaporean scene who have been pioneers not only in music, but also design. do check out what they’ve been up to lately at their website.

AMERICA: I Guess I’m Floating4Janelle Monae – Sincerely, Jane
The name Janelle Monae might ring a bell – she has guested on several OutKast songs and recently signed to Diddy’s Bad Boy label. After seeing her energetic performance at Bonnaroo a few days ago I can say that she’ll be one to keep a close eye on. Even if Sincerely, Jane doesn’t do much for you, check out some live clips on YouTube to get the whole picture.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie4Le Microkosmos – Es Un Hermoso Verano Lunar
Guillermo Beresñak and Pablo Retamero got together in January 2008 in Buenos Aires. From this union came Le Microkosmos, an electronic ensemble in constant search for new musical experiences with synths, programming, instruments, vocals and orchestral sampling. This quest led them to create their own cosmos from each sound, such as this acoustic-electronic ballad taken from their brand new album, Y Vas Donde Sonrisas Te Dan Esos Encapuchados De Un Mundo Nuevo.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?4Dappled Cities – The Price
One of Australia’s, if not the world’s, most exciting indie-rock bands, Dappled Cities are back with their third album, Zounds. It was written and recorded after an extensive period of touring their previous offering Granddance, a classic album in the minds of many critics. The Price is a fantastic taster for old and new fans alike, worthy of immediate playlisting.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado4Júlia Says – Cá
Júlia Says have just released their second independent EP, Menos é Mais (“Less Is More”), in which the duo go deep inside electronica with some strong influences of dance-rock. The name of the band was taken from a children’s story and it’s a thing that helps us to connect to the fragile melancholy and beauty of Cá.

CANADA: I(Heart)Music4Wildlife – Sea Dreamer
How awesome is this song? So much so that when I saw them perform it during a soundcheck at a show in Ottawa recently, everyone in the room just watched in stunned silence and then exploded in wild cheers when it was done. To put that in context, that kind of thing never happens. But Sea Dreamer, in all its pounding, pulsing, marching-gleefully-into-the-apocalypse glory, is amazing enough to be the exception.

CHILE: Super 454Valentina Fel – Circo Podrido
Full of aggressive beats, explosive sampling and social protest lyrics, Valentina Fel is the most logical evolution of a riot girl – punk almost in the realm of grime, do-it-yourself attitude with dancehall as a commodity and flamenco-injected defiance. Her long-awaited upcoming debut -to be release in the next few months – promises to be a massive earthquake in the dancefloor that nobody could anticipate.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian4Vomit Supreme – Versus Love
A new project by Mattis Jakobsen and Malte Hill of Straight To Your Face, Rock Hard Power Spray guitarist Frederik Valentin and recently joined by bassist Karsten D. Johansen (Strawberry Slaughterhouse), Vomit Supreme have long been an All Scandinavian favorite. Punk aggression spoon with pop hooks and with the mighty Versus Love spearheading their campaign, world domination should be nigh.

ENGLAND: The Daily Growl4Fanfarlo – I’m A Pilot
I’m A Pilot, the opening track on Fanfarlo’s debut album Reservoir, sets the scene for what’s to follow. It’s a rich, heady brew of heavily orchestrated indie-pop which at times even feels like it’s pulling its punches. It’s the sound of a young band comfortable in their own grandiosity and as Reservoir carefully unfolds, it’s impossible not to be swept along. From now until July 4 you can download the album from the Fanfarlo website for just $1, so you’ve no excuse for not owning it.

FINLAND: Glue4TV OFF – Car Is On Fire
What a summer hit song! Cool and sexy! Singer Sara delivers delicious pop melodies over Markku’s electro bits and sounds. This duo from Helsinki are putting the final touches to their debut album, but they have already gained attention around the world, playing in London and Tokyo. Soon TV OFF will take over the world.

FRANCE: ZikNation4Phoenix – 1901
For too long Phoenix have been overshadowed by Daft Punk and Air, but no more. Even though Phoenix are four albums into an increasingly fruitful career, 1901 is possibly the most immediate and loveable thing they’ve ever created. An anthem for indie kids, a dancefloor filler for disco dwellers. It’s for everyone really.

ICELAND: I Love Icelandic Music4For A Minor Reflection – Óhljóð
For A Minor Reflection are a quartet from Reykjavík who play energetic, melodious, instrumental post-rock. They have earned comparisons to Explosions In The Sky and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Óhljóð, which means “discordant noise”, is taken from their 2007 debut album Reistu Þig Við, Sólin Er Komin Á Loft… (“Rise and shine, the sun’s up…”) on Blippr.com. Guitarist Kjartan Holm’s older brother Georg plays bass in Sigur Rós, whom they supported on tour last year.

IRELAND: Nialler94Sleep Thieves – Osumi
Taken from It Was Only A Satellite, the debut EP from this Dublin three-piece, Osumi showcases the bleep-assisted electronic edge of their sound before diverting into heady post-rock guitar progressions, while singer Sorcha repeats a mantra atop like a prototype Natasha Khan. Their yearning indie-electronic-pop sound is reminiscent of Lali Puna, Broadcast and The Notwist.

ITALY: Polaroid4My Awesome Mixtape – Me & The Washing Machine
I would have never expected to listen to an Italian band mix diverse sounds such as Anticon and The Postal Service, but when I heard My Awesome Mixtape I just had to change my mind. Infectious melodies and tight grooves, these young kids just seem to be unstoppable.

MEXICO: Club Fonograma4Los Amparito – Por Medio De La Lectura
Los Amparito is the mind-blowing, eccentric and absolutely sublime project of Carlos Pensina. He is relatively well known in Mexico’s indie scene for his more electronic act Pepepe, but Los Amparito have enormous potential to break into international boundaries. This sound is like a distorted Mexican mirror of traditional music mashed with its own repetition, flourishing vocals and colorful sequences resulting in something between Animal Collective, Amparo Ochoa and El Guincho.

NEW ZEALAND: Counting The Beat4Lisa Crawley – Brother
Lisa Crawley is a multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter who stands out from the crowd because of her voice and the playful arrangements of her folk-pop songs. Brother, from her second independently released EP Hello, Goodbye And Everything Inbetween, would be great on the basis of its plinky-plonk piano alone, but it’s the trombone that lifts it to another level.

NORWAY: Eardrums4Firetop Mountain – How Can You Dance At A Time Like This?
Firetop Mountain are four boys and a girl from the Oslo area, who play indie-rock with a strong melodic focus. Just last week they released their debut album Indians Aren’t Afraid Of Heights on their own label. Their music is sometimes powerful and energetic – songs you want to jump around to – and other times more laid-back and sensitive. Good songwriting all the way.

PERU: SoTB4Mi Jardín Secreto – Yo No Quiero Bailar Esta Noche
Mi Jardín Secreto’s debut album, La Ciencia Y El Arte De La Falsificación, contains 11 songs that flit between new wave, alternative rock and the sound of modern bands. The theme of the lyrics is a mixture of the warmth and coldness of the city of Lima, with characters who have adventures in a place and climate familiar to us all.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?4:papercutz – A Secret Search
What started as Bruno Miguel’s music project is now a trio with female vocalist Marcela Freitas and multi-instrumentalist Francisco Bernardo. After appearances on various international compilations :papercutz are now signed to Montreal’s Apegenine label, who released their debut album Lylac in February. In April, they were winners of the ‘off the beaten track’ category in The People’s Music Awards in London.

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise4Luna Amara – Floodmoses
Luna Amara have been around for almost 10 years, during which they’ve managed to create an image and a name for themselves in Romania. From mellow alternative to angry metal sounds, their music is powerful and never fails to deliver its message. Floodmoses is taken from their recently released third album Don’t Let Your Dreams Fall Asleep.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop4The Seventeenth Century – Traffic
If Arcade Fire’s Wake Up moved you to your core then get ready to fall in love with Traffic. It has that soaring choral majesty, that sprawling orchestration and The Seventeenth Century clearly possess ambitions that are no less lofty. Having had a listen to the young Glasgow band’s forthcoming In The Place EP, we can say without hesitation that you’re looking at the best new band in Scotland.

SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To…4Concave Scream – Fiction
We visit one of Singapore’s finest indie bands of the 90s with Concave Scream. Fiction, taken from their third album Three, hints at the flavors of DJ Shadow, The Cure, U2 and Butler-era Suede. It is a fine tune that could sum up the entire record with its use of ethereal vocals, otherworldly chorus-effected guitar lines and a blistering rhythm section. These days, Concave Scream are pushing the envelope of their musical whimsicality by releasing an instrumental fifth album that can be found on their website.

SOUTH KOREA: Indieful ROK4The Plastic Day – I Miss Me Myself
Post-punk/grunge trio The Plastic Day released their first full-length album, 30 Seconds Between The Dreamer And The Realist, only last month but already they’ve gotten unusually high coverage in Korea-related English language media online. With an intense rock sound paired with English lyrics, there’s no reason why they won’t get even further. I Miss Me Myself might be one of the softer songs on the album, but it’s one that instantly spawns an impulse to hit the repeat button.

SWEDEN: Swedesplease4Chuck Morgan – The Best Of You
I don’t know if there’s a term for the sound of Chuck Morgan. The last post I did on this Gothenburg-based troubadour tried to peg him as “romantic indie-pop”. His new song, The Best Of You, continues that sound but adds even more electronic beeps and blips to the mix.

they’re waking up to…

sharon van etten:
Lately, I have been obsessed with this band from Montreal called Automelodi. I work at a record label (Ba Da Bing Records) and my boss, Ben, is constantly getting new records in. He knows I have a soft spot for 80s/90s post punk/early electro, vaguely alternative music... and so one day, he put on a Wierd Records compilation. It was a vinyl set of like 4 pieces or something. There were so many good bands on there... however, Automelodi stuck out in my mind as being an authentic, genuine, NON-cheesy version of the 80s I wish I was a part of. The song in particular that gets me going in the morning is called "Schéma Corporel".
mp3: automelodi - schéma corporel

bani haykal from b-quartet:
often enough, it’s the early morning rush which gets me excited about shutting my eyes. and by morning, we’re looking at the 4 a.m. time frame where all you hear is yourself in a foggy blur, thinking if sleep is really all that important because the early few are storming off for work. in all honesty, there is no ipod nor a single earplugging devicetron which i’d attend to. often enough, it’s someone else’s sonic leak i’m getting addressed by. but, i’m listening to Steely Dan’s “Babylon Sisters”. in my head, at least. sanity ‘from the point of no return’, personally. it’s a breath of fresh air. despite its age. everything is beautiful then.
mp3: steely dan - babylon sisters

naomi yang from galaxie 500:
The perfect song to start the day is “A Tonga Da Mironga Do Kabuleté” – the live recording from 1971 by Brazilian artists Vinícius + Bethania + Toquinho. It is like a beautiful sunrise – although I think that the lyrics are actually some sort of political commentary disguised as a Candomble/Afro-Brazilian curse – but whatever! And then you should just leave the CD on, and listen to the rest of the album while you have your coffee. And you will have a great day.
mp3: vinícius + bethania + toquinho – a tonga da mironga do kabuletê (live in buenos aires, 1971)

jamie stewart from xiu xiu:
i have a nico button on my guitar strap and her excess eyeliner has been burning the dirge "janitor of lunacy" into my waking ears as of late, at least 20 times in the last week. until yesterday we have been on tour in scandinavia, russia, poland, austria, germany and czech. these grey locations held hands with her harmonium perfectly.
mp3: nico - janitor of lunacy

justin ringle from horse feathers:
i have been obsessively listening and waking up to this tune by gillian welch called "annabelle". it's a song about a sharecropper in alabama and it is so sad, beautiful and timeless that I can't help but listen more than once in a row. the harmonies in the chorus make my hairs stand up... beautiful song.
mp3: gillian welch - annabelle

tracyanne campbell from camera obscura:
my favourite song at the moment is called 'one in a million' by steve miller. it's really beautiful. his voice is like honey in the sun and it totally melts my heart. the lyrics are quite simple and i guess
corny but it's a great tune and the production is so good it really doesn't matter. i wish i'd written it. in fact i'd love to do a cover version of it. i was recently in stockholm visiting my friend victoria (bergsman) from taken by trees and we were singing it in the flat and talked about recording it. watch this space...
mp3: steve miller band - one in a million

stuart murdoch from belle and sebastian:
every day when i leave the house and walk over the iron bridge and up to the glasshouses, i listen to “what for” by james. i have a habit of dropping back 20 years in my thoughts, and having a parallel soundtrack running in my head so that i may be walking in a street in 2008, but my head is in 1988. i don’t know why that is. this is an up and hopeful song of the period from a band i used to care for deeply.
as we slip into the autumn here, i am prepared to let my new song of obsession become “the game” by echo and the bunnymen.
“everybody’s got their own good reason why their favourite season is their favourite season”.
mp3: james - what formp3: echo and the bunnymen - the game

alison eales from butcher boy:
I'm waking up to Labi Siffre, and wondering how I managed to stay asleep for so long. His songs are diverse, unpretentious, and performed with tangible joy. I'm literally waking up to him as well - I have 'It Must Be Love' set as my alarm, and it is proving to be a very nutritious musical breakfast.
mp3: labi siffre - it must be love

who we are

dan
i love music, but i can't play it for the life of me, so i might as well try writing instead. hope you like it. i'm from singapore, where there really is good music if you look hard enough. i'd love to hear from you (yes, you): theskinnyfists@yahoo.com.sg

brian
I'm a four stringing minstrel of doom, and hired gun for the odd band or two. Few things excite me more than music, and whiskey soaked vocals are a definite plus, so please be sure to send some my way. When I'm not contributing to I'm Waking Up To and MAP, you should follow my misadventures at http://litford.wordpress.com And yes! I'd love to hear from you too: litford@gmail.com
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